Good evening everyone and many thanks for coming along and supporting us at our AGM this evening. Once again it has been a very enjoyable year for me as President and I have been supported by a fantastic Committee (officially known as the Council) which has included: John Hocking and Gale Bailey as joint Vice Presidents, Martin Smith (Treasurer) Ghaff Khan (Membership Secretary), Ray Bloom (Golf Convener), Angela Stafford (Charities Coordinator), Kevin Hellon (Website Coordinator), Paul Jackson (Ball entertainment) along with Hasan Khan, Carole Ann Eastgate and Liz Khan. Also, I should mention Sue Steel a long-serving Committee Member, who is back with us briefly this evening and who has been giving me advice from far away Hull but alas could not be at the Ball this year.

This year has been somewhat shortened due to the King’s passing last October and we were finally able to kick off in mid-January with our postponed 2016 AGM. It was a very successful evening, carrying on for a long time afterwards with a few sore heads the next day by all accounts.

Our main social event of the year was of course our Annual Ball which was held in May at the Royal Orchid Sheraton, who, as always, did a fantastic job. We must have impressed them because Michael (the new GM) and his wife Maria are now staunch St. George’s members. We were delighted with the success of the event and the fact that it was so well supported by the British community and in that we welcomed guests from over 25 nationsincluding a large number of Thais, which was absolutely fantastic. I think they all enjoyed some memorable English culture, although some of the community singing moments led by the Committee are probably best forgotten! We had some very generous Ball sponsors including Steve Harrop and Budget Business Travel who donated a fantastic top raffle prize which helped us raise a significant amount for our Thai charities. All together we weredelighted at how well the evening went. All the compliments we received afterwards made the hard work well worthwhile. The event couldn’t have taken place without the incredible help and support of the Committee so please let me once again extend my thanks to all of you for making the evening such a success.

Despite being held on a rather wet night in late July, our mid-year Intersociety Pub night was well attended and we were particularly grateful for our fantastic Scottish friends who so often support us at our events. John Hocking did a great job in organizing it at Bei Otto’s German Restaurant, at which we were able to offer free hot food. Alex, the Manager laid on an enormous amount of delicious German food and plenty of beer and wine – definitely noone went hungry or thirsty that evening and a very sociable evening was had by all. Some interesting beer and sausage eating games took place once the rain had stopped and we held a very successful raffle to which everyone donated very generously. I think Karen Burr must now hold the record for the most number of raffle prizes won in an evening, but as a very loyal St. George’s member, the prizes could not have gone to a more deserving lady.

Regarding our Golfing section, the St George's team took on the other Loyal Society teams in the annual weekend event, on May 20 and 21, at the Pattana Golf Club, in Chonburi. Organised by the host Society, St Andrews, it was a most enjoyable two days of golf rivalry. As a result of some great rounds by our players, we clinched an easy victory and, in joyful celebratory scenes, accepted the Loyal Societies trophy. Many thanks to ourGolf Convener, Ray Bloom who organized the St. George’s team and many congratulations to him and his team on a great win. Unfortunately, Ray has to stand down as Golf Convener for the coming year, but we are very fortunate that he has agreed to remain on the Council as an adviser.

No Intersociety Pool Tournament was held this year, but Leonard Stokes one of our long-serving members has already volunteered to help put together an event with the other Loyal Societies early next year, so please watch this space.

Our number of paid-up members currently stands at 24 and many thanks to Ghaff for working hard to remind members to pay their subs. Membership is also helped significantly by our loyal and supportive Golfing contingent. Annual Membership fees remain at 500 baht per person, per year and are now due, apart from golfers who can renew at the Intersociety Golf Tournament.

The principal charities we supported in 2017 included the Gift of Happiness Foundation which we were delighted to support both financially and by offering Eddie our stall and a helping hand at the British Club Car Boot Sale and the St. Andrew’s Family Fair which proved particularly profitable for the charity. Following a suggestion by John Hocking we also made a donation to support a much-needed new building for a school in a very poor area inNorthern Thailand. In addition, we once again made donations to the Pattaya Centre for needy young mothers and their children.

Going forward into next year I will actually be standing down this evening as President. I have been honoured to undertake this role which has given me huge pleasure and satisfaction over the past two years or so. I hope to remain on the Committee however and still play an active part in the Society.Finally, as always, if any members have ideas for future society events, please do share them with us. All suggestions are very welcome or if you would like to help out in any capacity, especially with the Ball organisation, that would be hugely appreciated. In the meantime, many thanks once again to all the brilliant 2017 Committee and of course to all our Members for your wonderful and generous support this year.

ELECTION OF PRESIDENT AND OFFICERS 2017-2018

The Nominations to stand for the 2017/2018 Council were as follows and were accepted unanimously. A huge thank you to you all.